"Merlin's beard is really hard to find here."
Fred looked around the simple environment of the tent and looked at his friend in confusion, "Don't tell me, you have been living here for the past few days?"
"Don't be silly, Fred. Albert enjoys life more than you do. How could he sleep here?" George thought Fred's words sounded silly. He handed Albert the parchment that Sirius asked them to help pass on, and brought the topic back to the reason why they came to see Albert.
"You asked Sirius to help you place the bet?"
Seeing that Albert was looking at the parchment carefully and had no intention of answering, George knew that the other party had agreed.
Some things are better left unsaid in your heart. There is no need to make them clear.
George continued, "We placed a bet with Ludo Bagman, betting, like Blake, that Ireland would win the game and score first, but that Viktor Krum would catch the Snitch..."
"Also, after the game, the score between the two teams will not exceed thirty points." Fred interrupted George and continued.
“How many times?”
"What?" Fred didn't react for a moment.
"Eight times," George said immediately.
"Ludo Bagman has lost a lot of Galleons recently." Albert took out a pen from his pocket and began to make notes on the parchment. Without looking up, he said, "He borrowed a large sum of Galleons from the goblins in Gringotts. I guess he can't pay it back."
"You mean..." George frowned deeply, obviously understanding what Albert meant. "He's going to default on his debt? No wonder I thought his reaction just now was a little strange."
"The goblins won't let Bagman get away with it," Fred shook his head. "They're not house-elves."
"No, you didn't understand Albert," George interrupted with a hand. "He meant that Bagman might default on our Galleons. And of course, the goblins' Galleons."
"Can you guys speak normally?" Fred felt that he could not keep up with the two people's thinking patterns. He and George were obviously twins, so why could George understand but he couldn't
"The Irish team's mascot is the leprechaun, and they like to scatter magic gold coins on the field after their performances," Albert added.
"Leprechaun coins do look a lot like Galleons. Do you think Bagman could use Leprechaun coins to fool us?" George frowned as he considered a response plan.
"As long as we check the gold coins immediately after receiving them, we shouldn't be easily fooled by Bagman." Although Fred had never seen the leprechaun's gold coins, he believed that Bagman would not be able to fool them while they were alert.
"Lee Jordan's tent is nearby. You can go find him on the way and tell him about this." Albert took a sip from his teacup and reminded, "You haven't met his family yet!"
"It seems that you have reaped a rich harvest!" George couldn't help but sigh at Albert's way of making money, "But Bagman deserves it."
After learning from Albert that Bagman had tricked them with fake gold coins, Fred and George's last bit of sympathy for Bagman disappeared.
"He's too fond of gambling, and he's lost too many Galleons. He's doomed to be unable to pay back the debt owed to the goblins, and he'll probably run away in the end." Albert reminded: "If you want to get the money, you have to do it before he has money left, otherwise you won't get a single Knut from Bagman."
"It looks like this is worse than we thought," George muttered. "I'll mention this to Lee Jordan."
"Then...see you tonight!"
Before leaving the tent, Fred suddenly turned around and asked, "By the way, you seem to be very optimistic about the magazine started by Blake?"
"Because people need it!" Albert said with a smile.
After the Weasley brothers left, Albert continued to flip through the parchment in his hand. After a moment, he seemed to remember something, called the house-elf Bit over, took out a glass bottle from the deformed lizard skin bag and handed it to the house-elf. The glass bottle contained black beads.
Albert lowered his voice and told the house-elf what to do tonight.
Beetee looked at the glass bottle in his hand nervously, but nodded to indicate that he would finish it.
"Oh, by the way, we will leave here immediately after watching the game tonight. There is no need to pack up this tent. Just leave it here. You can Apparate with the suitcase and leave. And the thing in your hand is a gift left for the group of dark wizards who caused the trouble. Remember to spread it out so that no one will suspect us."
"I understand, master." The house-elf Bit bowed slightly and went back to make preparations before leaving.
Albert put away the revised parchment and returned to the box, telling Catherine and Valeria that he would leave that night.
As for whether the two would leave with them, that was not something he could decide.
…
"After the game, shall we go home?"
Nia held Albert's hand and followed the crowd strolling in the forest. They had walked this road several times and were quite familiar with the environment here.
"What about the third place match? Aren't you going to watch it?" Katrina knew that Albert had tickets for the third place match, and the price of first-class tickets was not cheap.
"I've asked someone to help sell the tickets for the third place match." Albert looked at the crowd in front of him and said calmly, "After tonight, this place will probably be under martial law."
"It seems that the situation is really bad. How did you know that something would happen tonight?" Valeria was curious about where Albert got the news.
"Don't you know he's a prophet?" Katrina muttered.
"A prophet?"
The two looked at Albert at the same time, “Are you sure this isn’t some crappy divination.”
After a short silence, Catherine suddenly asked, "Did you cheat by using prophecy during the Potions Tournament?"
"You think I need to cheat?" Albert asked back.
"Prophecy is really incomprehensible." Valeria looked at Albert with fiery eyes. No wonder Albert could always guess which team would win.
During this Quidditch World Cup, they won a large sum of money through betting. Although they had to share a part of it with someone, the amount of gold coins they earned was still considerable.
"What did you predict?" Catherine demanded.
"Fire, dark wizards, and the Dark Mark." Albert said in a low voice.
"What is the Dark Mark?" Valeria and Catherine did not know about Voldemort's mark.
In fact, young wizards today don't know much about the Dark Mark.
There was no way. Compared with the first Dark Lord Gellert Grindelwald, Voldemort's reputation spread more only in Europe, and most of his followers stayed in Britain. Unlike Grindelwald who had widespread supporters, naturally no one told Catherine and Valeria not to call Voldemort's name directly, and no one told them what the Dark Mark was.
"I suggest you read the Daily Prophet tomorrow morning." Albert made a hushing gesture, indicating that they should not discuss this topic here.
"Can't be mentioned?"
"British wizards are very taboo about talking about this matter. You will know when you read the newspaper tomorrow."
After separating on the top floor, Albert and his companions entered a familiar box and found that there were already many acquaintances there.
Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys were all in the same box. Fred and George were waving at Albert vigorously, while Harry was chatting with a house-elf. Hermione looked very angry for some reason.
In the corner of the back row, there was a house-elf who seemed to be saving a seat for his master, but Albert knew that old Crouch would not come to watch the final because that empty seat was actually reserved for young Crouch.
Honestly speaking, Albert really wanted to secretly pull off the invisibility cloak on the other person and give the audience in the box an unexpected surprise. He was convinced that this would be more sensational than who would win the Quidditch World Cup. He also believed that Fudge would be so excited that he would let the Dementors give Crouch Jr. a kiss.
However, it is not the right time yet, as Crouch Jr. is still useful. Albert finally held back. If he kills him, he won’t be able to perform any panel tasks in the later stages.
"What's wrong?" Isobel noticed Albert's mood change.
"Nothing." Albert shook his head.
She didn't think it was a big deal. She followed Albert's line of sight and looked at the empty seat next to the house-elf. She couldn't help but frown and think about it, but Isobel didn't mean to go into it any further. After sitting down, she started talking to Katrina.
At this time, people began to enter the box again, and Minister of Magic Fudge led the Bulgarian Minister in.
The two men gestured to each other with their hands and spoke to each other in a language that the other could not understand.
Well, at least Fudge couldn't understand Bulgarian, but the Bulgarian minister might not be unable to understand English.
Not using English to communicate with Fudge is probably just a way to make fun of him.
Following behind the two came the Malfoy family. Lucius Malfoy seemed to have had some unpleasant exchanges with the Weasley family.
At least, after a few simple words of small talk, the expression on Mr. Weasley's face was unnatural.
The Bulgarian minister, who was originally sitting in the front row, stopped making fun of Fudge and started chatting with Albert, who was sitting behind them.
The people in the box had strange expressions, and Fudge was no exception, because he found that Albert was actually chatting with the other person in fluent Bulgarian, and the two seemed to know each other and were very familiar with each other.
By the way, does this guy have such a wide range of friends
You even know the Bulgarian Minister of Magic? People who don't know would think you are the pure-blood.
Fudge suddenly understood why the British youth representative at the Wizengamot turned out like that last time.
"I should have asked you to translate for me just now. This kind of thing is usually handled by Barty Crouch. You should know Barty!"
"We've met a few times." Albert looked at his new friend again and asked in fluent Bulgarian: "Mr. Obalonsk should understand English!"
"I understand, but I think it's more fun this way." The Bulgarian minister shrugged, not at all embarrassed by being exposed. "Besides, that guy thought I didn't understand English, so he didn't have much scruples when he spoke. By the way, who do you think will win tonight?"
"It's hard to say, but Ireland has a bigger advantage. Bulgaria's chance to win the championship lies with Krum. If Krum can't catch the Golden Snitch before the score gap between the two teams widens, he will lose the chance to win the championship." Albert said honestly, "Both sides should be very clear about this. In the end, it depends on who is more prepared and who has better luck."
"You are right."
The Bulgarian minister is of course well aware of the Bulgarian team's disadvantages, but he does not think that the Bulgarian team has no hope of winning the championship.
The game kicked off with Ludo's shout. After the Bulgarian team's mascot Veela entered the field, many men present still suffered "social death". Harry and Ron were prepared and closed their eyes when the Veela danced, so they were not hit, but Fred and George were not so lucky, and even Percy was hit.
For this reason, Draco Malfoy, who was sitting behind them, pointed at them a lot, with a look of gloating on his face.
The mascots of the Irish team were more popular. These bearded leprechauns in red vests flew over everyone's heads, forming all kinds of fireworks. Finally, they formed a huge, dazzling shamrock, which circled over the audience's heads and sprinkled a lot of gold coins. The audience below was scrambling for them.
"Don't they know that these gold coins will disappear?" Nia looked at the few leprechaun gold coins in her hand, somewhat unable to understand the audience's mentality.
Moreover, after gold coins rained from the sky, some people actually believed that the gold coins were real.
"A lot of people don't know." As Albert spoke, he caught a glimpse of a hand that appeared out of nowhere and took Harry's wand from his pocket, while the house-elf who was originally looking after Crouch Jr. had been covering his face with his hands.
At this moment, the panel task was triggered. Although the experience given was not much, it still made Albert smile with joy. This was a good start.
Little Crouch, who had just received the wand and had not yet recovered from the excitement, suddenly shuddered and looked around. He just felt an inexplicable malice.
Who is it
Crouch looked around but couldn't find the person who made him uneasy.
"Some people will still collect them enthusiastically even if they know they are fake. People care more about this lively atmosphere."
It is truly the World Cup, both national teams displayed extremely strong strength, there was no testing of each other, and the game went straight into a white-hot stage.
The Irish team in particular continued the American tactics and while suppressing Krumm, they were quickly snatching points from the Bulgarian team.
As expected, the Irish team scored first. The Irish fans on the field cheered like crazy for the first goal.
The game was still going on, and the Irish team's suppression tactics were better than the American team, forcing Krum to use Wonski's fake move to buy himself time.
This time, he didn't fall to the ground, but his opponent Lin Qi was hit hard, giving him the opportunity to look for the Golden Snitch without any interference.
"I think they are risking their lives. Aren't they really worried about breaking their necks?" Nia was still a little uncomfortable seeing such scenes. If it were an ordinary person, he would have definitely fallen to death.
"If you fall to your death, you can only consider yourself unlucky."
With the cheers of the Irish supporters and the treatment of the doctors, Lin Qi stood up again, rode his Firebolt, and returned to the court.
However, it was not difficult for Albert to see that Lin Qi was in a bad condition. The close contact with the ground just now caused him serious injuries. The Irish team obviously realized this and accelerated their offensive against the Bulgarian team. Their superb skills and exquisite cooperation quickly enabled them to quickly snatch a large number of points from the Bulgarian team. Perhaps, the Irish team did not expect Lin Qi to catch the Golden Snitch from the beginning.
As the score gap widened further, the pressure on the Bulgarian players became very great, especially after the score widened to 100 points. They had to once again resort to the violent method they used against the American team to break the deadlock and give Krum a chance to catch the Golden Snitch.
The game started to become unscrupulous.
The ferocity and intensity were something the audience had never seen before.
The batsmen on both sides were merciless, especially the Bulgarian batsmen, who swung their bats fiercely, not caring at all whether they were hitting the ball or the person, and just swung their bats wildly to create chaos.
Their Seeker was just as fierce, and in order to prevent his opponent from scoring, he rushed directly towards the Seeker holding the ghost ball, almost knocking the girl off her broom.
The Veela who were originally acting as spectators also began to help create chaos, wrestling with the Irish leprechauns, and even in order to distract the referee's attention, a Veela set fire to the tail of the referee's broom during the chaos.
In the chaos, Krum tried to break free from his opponent's hold, but the two Irish Seekers continued to keep a close eye on Krum and used Bludgers to cause trouble for him.
Free throws, free throws, and free throws.
The Bulgarian team paid the price for their tactics. They lost a lot of points, and Krum failed to catch the Golden Snitch in a short time. He was also injured by the Bludger, and the expression on his face became even gloomier.
"Bulgaria lost!" Albert said softly, looking at the scoreboard.
Because Ireland is already far ahead of Bulgaria with 170 points.
However, many spectators did not notice this. They were staring at the intense competition on the field and kept protesting in dissatisfaction, but did not realize that the Irish team had actually won.
Krum obviously realized this as well.
They lost, and lost badly.
So, when he saw the Irish Seeker chasing the Golden Snitch, he accelerated and chased after him without hesitation.
Krum did not step forward to stop the opponent from catching the Golden Snitch, but went to end the game. He knew he had to do this so that the Bulgarian team could end with dignity. This was the only thing he could do now.
After all, a slight difference in points would make the fans who support them feel that the Bulgarian team is just unlucky.
If we are badly beaten, it will seriously undermine the confidence of our teammates and fans.
Both of them were speeding down and diving in pursuit of the Golden Snitch.
This time, Krum didn't crash to the ground like last time, but Lin Qi, who accelerated with him, crashed to the ground for the second time.
However, Krum, who caught the Golden Snitch, had no smile on his face. Instead, his expression became even gloomier. He personally caused the Bulgarian team to lose the game.
"A very brave man," Nia commented.
"Krum was indeed very brave. He made the Bulgarian team lose the game decently." Albert agreed with Nia.
"Yes, our boys fought very bravely." The Bulgarian minister glanced at Fudge's face and said in fluent English.
"What! You can speak English?" Fudge glared at the Bulgarian minister in great annoyance, "But you let me gesticulate here all day like a fool!"
"Hey, that's fun." The Bulgarian minister shrugged, stood up, and walked towards the podium below.
At this moment, above everyone's heads, the leprechauns began to sprinkle a large number of gold coins to celebrate Ireland's victory in the championship.
Fudge realized that he had been fooled and was very annoyed. The fact that Ireland had just won the Quidditch World Cup did not make him happy. In the end, he went on stage with a stern face and an unhappy expression to present the award to the championship team.
"Let's go, we should go back."
Albert asked everyone to leave before the award ceremony was over, while Fred and George went to ask Ludo Bagman for money. They obviously had not forgotten what Albert had said.